Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling

Education

• Yale University, Ph.D., 1993
• Yale University, M.A., 1989
• Yale University, B.A., 1983

Research Interests

Dr. Sterling¹s primary research is focused on behavioral ecology, particularly of endangered animals, turtles and tortoises, and on biogeography and its application to conservation. She also focuses on tools for elucidating spatially explicit information on species and assemblages of species. A scientist with interdisciplinary training in biological and social sciences, Dr. Sterling has performed field research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and currently co-leads genetic, epidemiological and behavioral ecology research on the sea turtles of also Palmyra Atoll, the Solomon Islands, and the broader Pacific. She is also considered a world authority on the aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur found in Madagascar. At AMNH she has engaged in systems-level research on endangered species and high biodiversity ecosystems, and on the intersection between biodiversity, culture, and languages and the factors influencing resilience in biocultural approaches to conservation. In 200 Dr. Sterling spearheaded the establishment of the CBC¹s Network of Conservation Educators (NCEP), an international group that develops sound biodiversity conservation practice by improving conservation training at the undergraduate, graduate and professional level. She has curated five exhibits at AMNH and is most recently the co-curator of the Museum¹s exhibit on the global food system: Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture. 

Publications

• Valencia, V., L. García-Barrios, P. West, E.J. Sterling, S. Naeem. (Accepted) The role of coffee agroforestry in the conservation of forest tree diversity and community composition in La Sepultura Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. Conservation Biology.
• Yabut, M., E. A. Lazo-Wasem, E.J. Sterling, A. Gómez. (Accepted) New Records of Hyachelia tortugae Barnard and H. lowryi Serejo (Amphipoda: Gammaridea: Hyalidae) from Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge: Co-occurrence on Pacific Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas). Novitates.
• Rao, M., A. Johnson, K. Spence, A. Sypasong, N. Bynum, E.J. Sterling,T. Phimminith, B. Praxaysombath. 2014. Building Capacity for Protected Area Management in Lao PDR: A review of outcomes and lessons learned. Environmental Management.
• Naro-Maciel, E., S.J. Gaughran, N.F. Putman, G. Amato, F. Arengo, P.H. Dutton, K.W. McFadden, E.C. Vintinner, E.J. Sterling. 2014. Predicting connectivity of green turtles at Palmyra Atoll, Central Pacific: A focus on mtDNA and dispersal modeling. Journal of theRoyal Society Interface. Vol. 11, no. 93, 20130888.
• Foster, M.J., M.E. Blair, C. Bennett, N. Bynum, and E.J. Sterling. 2014 Increasing the Diversity of U.S. Conservation Science Professionals via the Society for Conservation Biology. Conservation Biology.DOI:10.1111/cobi.12182. Vol. 28, no.1, pp. 288-291.
• Blair, M., E.J. Sterling, M. Dusch, C. Raxworthy, R.G. Pearson. 2013. Ecological divergence and speciation between lemur Eulemur sister species.Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 26(8):1790-1801. DOI:10.1111/jeb.12179.
• Sterling, E.J., K.W. McFadden, K.E. Holmes, E.C. Vintinner, F. Arengo, and E. Naro-Maciel. 2013. Ecology and Conservation of Marine Turtles in a Central Pacific Foraging Ground. Chelonian Conservation Biology.12(1):2-16.
• Sterling, E.J., N. Bynum, and M.E. Blair, eds. 2013. Primate Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford University Press.
• Blair, M.E., R.A. Rose, P. Ersts, E.W. Sanderson, K.H. Redford, K. Didier,E.J. Sterling, and R.G. Pearson. 2012. Incorporating climate change into conservation planning: Identifying priority areas across a species¹ range. Frontiers in Biogeography 4(4): 157-167.
• Bett, Nolan, M.E. Blair, E.J. Sterling. 2012. Ecological Niche Conservatism in Doucs (genus Pygathrix).International Journal of Primatology.33(4): 972-988
• Blair, M.E., E.J. Sterling, and M.M. Hurley.2011. Taxonomy and conservation of Vietnam¹s primates: A Review.American Journal of Primatology 73(11):1093-1106.
• Sterling, E.J., A. Gómez, and A.L. Porzecanski. 2010. A systemic view of biodiversity and its conservation: Processes, interrelationships, and human culture. Bioessays. 32(12) 1090-1098.
• Gibbs, J., E.J. Sterling, and J. Zabala.  2010.  Giant tortoises as ecological engineers: A long-term quasi-experiment in the Galapagos Islands.  Biotropica 42(2): 208-214.
• Horning, N., J. Robinson, E.J. Sterling, W. Turner, and S. Spector, eds. 2010.Remote Sensing for Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook for Techniques. Oxford: Oxford University.
• Pretty, J. B. Adams, F. Berkes, S. Athayde, N. Dudley, E. Hunn, L. Maffi, K. Milton, D. Rapport, P. Robbins, E.J.Sterling, S. Stolton, A. Tsing, E.Vintinner and S. Pilgrim. 2009. The Intersections of Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity: Towards Integration. Conservation and Society 7(2): 100-112